Mitsubishi Acquires Smarter Grid Solutions

Mitsubishi’s Electric Power Products subsidiary recently acquired U.K.-based Smarter Grid Solutions to expand its reach in the power distribution utility market.

Mitsubishi Electric Power Products Inc. CEO Brian Heery and Smarter Grid Solutions CEO Brent Marshall. Image courtesy of Smarter Grid Solutions

 

The Scotland-headquartered company offers a distributed energy resources (DER) management software platform used by energy service providers, municipal authorities, battery fleet operators, and other entities that manage DER assets. Smarter Grid Solutions’ list of customers and partners includes a mix of national and regional names, such as England’s UK Power Networks, Canada’s Hydro One, and Alectra Utilities, Scotland’s SP Energy Networks and Scottish & Southern Electricity Networks, Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, New York’s conEdison, California’s PG&E, and Southern California Edison, and more customers worldwide. It says its products can be scaled to manage millions of devices at the same time.

The deal—terms of which were not undisclosed—will combine Smarter Grid Solutions’ DER management software with Mitsubishi Electric’s grid control products for electric utilities. The company will continue operating from its office in Glasgow under Mitsubishi’s Electric Power Products unit, which markets gas and vacuum circuit breakers, power transformers, high-voltage DC systems, battery energy storage systems, electric generators, uninterruptible power supplies, rail equipment and LED displays.

In announcing the deal’s close last month, Mitsubishi Electric mentioned that the power market has trended toward decentralized generation sources, including DER. Brian Heery, president, and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products, praised Smarter Grid Solutions for its products and processes centering around decarbonizing electric power production.

“We look forward to marrying their products with our suite of grid control products to help our customers respond to changes and still get the best performance from their electric grids,” Heery added. 

Noriyuki Takazawa, head of Mitsubishi Electric’s Energy and Industrial Systems Group, also said Smarter Grid Solutions’ platforms have helped power utilities in Europe and North America to install, manage and optimize their renewable energy resources, adding “we look forward to bringing that DER management core competency to new markets around the globe.”

Image courtesy of Mitsubishi Electric Power Products

Smarter Grid Solutions’ announcement said the company would be able to further scale its climate contributions by helping more grid operators to connect renewables to their networks and energy developers to add clean energy assets to their fleets. 

For Mitsubishi Electric, the acquisition brings increased exposure in the growing DER space. In the U.S. alone, the market is expected to top $110 billion by 2025, with DERs reaching a combined capacity of 387 gigawatts, according to a 2020 Wood Mackenzie report analyzing forecasts across six resource classes.